


From First to Last

by Strange_johnlock



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: 221B Baker Street, Angst, Christmas, Christmas Eve, Christmas Fluff, Christmas at 221B Baker Street, Developing Relationship, Established Relationship, First Christmas, First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, Injury Recovery, M/M, Married Couple, Married Life, Pre-Season/Series 01, Retirement, Returning to London, Sherlock Holmes Takes Care of John Watson, Sussex, Teenlock
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 19:27:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21943837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Strange_johnlock/pseuds/Strange_johnlock
Summary: Sherlock and John spend many Christmas Eves together.Repost from the advent calender 2018, as I wasn't able to do a Christmas-y story this year :)
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Comments: 24
Kudos: 108





	1. First

The first time they spend Christmas Eve together, Sherlock is almost sixteen. The whole school knows John as the ladies’ man, the captain of the rugby team, the kid always smiling and making jokes. They love him because he is handsome and kind. 

  
They don’t know about his mother’s alcoholism, or that his father left the family when John was five. No knows the real reason his sister is gone is because the mother sent her away so they could get the gay out of her. They don’t know that John Watson is lonely. 

  
Sherlock sees. He always does. He sees the slumped shoulders and the holes in his clothes. He observes how John avoids alcohol at parties and how he never invites anybody home. Sherlock knows who John is, handsome and kind and so, so hurt. 

  
He leaves a note on John’s desk on the last day of school. Simple words.   
If you prefer not to be lonely at Christmas, you can join me and my family.   
He adds his address, signs his initials. 

  
His parents insist on a film night on Christmas eve and he puts on pajamas and joins them. There’s biscuits and hot chocolate and Polar Express. Mycroft came home from London and is sitting in the green armchair. His tie has a Christmas tree pattern. Mummy got it for him last year. 

  
The knock on the door comes as a surprise to all. Sherlock gets the door. 

  
John’s ears are red from the cold, and so is his nose. He is looking down at his shoes, then up at Sherlock with an unsure smile.   
“I… I know you probably meant I could join you on Christmas morning, which is really kind. I mean we don’t really know each other and to offer that is… sorry, I don’t even know what to say. It’s just, my mother is at her boyfriend’s and I…” 

  
He doesn’t have to say more. Sherlock just smiles and opens the door further so John can step in. He gets his shoes and jacket off and leaves his backpack in the hallway.   
Mummy hugs him, offers him cocoa and leftover mince pie. John gets a place on the sofa and a blanket and they watch movies together until father almost falls asleep around midnight.   
Sherlock carries John’s bag upstairs, and shows him to the guest room. John smiles and Sherlock observes he’s happy, and a bit uncertain of how to react. How John does react is by pulling him into a hug, and Sherlock takes in the warmth and smell of him. 

  
John Watson is handsome and kind and hurt and so, so brave.   
“Thank you.” John says, and for the rest of the night Sherlock is unable to sleep because he has to analyse every detail of that smile.   
  
John leaves in the early morning hours to spend Christmas morning with his mother. Sherlock is quite sure John just doesn’t want to be a burden to the Holmes family, doesn’t want to intrude. John is an idiot for thinking that way, because Sherlock had offered just that, for John to be part of today. Sherlock doesn’t try to stop him. 


	2. Second

The second time they spend Christmas Eve together, Sherlock is almost seventeen. He doesn’t have to leave a note on John’s desk this time. He just asks, while they are lying on Sherlock’s bed, John’s nose in Sherlock’s hair and Sherlock’s fingers playing with the buttons on John’s shirt.

“Will you come over for Christmas?”

Sherlock can feel John smile into his hair. “I’d love to. I’ll have to ask Mum. Harry is back, and maybe they want to do something together, pretend to be a family for one day.”

Sherlock turns his head to look at John. “You could come over Christmas Eve and go see Harry in the morning.”

“And stay in the guest room?” John asks, a knowing smile on his face and Sherlock kisses that smile away.

John Watson is handsome, and kind and hurt and brave and such a good kisser.

“If you keep being that sassy, you might.”

Christmas is almost the same as the year before. Movies and hot beverages and laughter. This time, though, Sherlock is snuggled against John’s chest on the sofa and Mummy shows John baby pictures which Sherlock finds embarrassing. John made ginger nuts, because he knows Sherlock likes them.

When Mummy and father and Mycroft have gone to bed, Sherlock plays a song on his violin for John, and John has tears in his eyes.

In the morning, John kisses him goodbye and slips out of bed to go see his family. And Sherlock doesn’t stop him.


	3. Eighteenth

The eighteenth Christmas they spend together, Sherlock is almost thirty-four. John is just now back in London and they have moved into a new flat together. 

Between boxes and stacks of books that haven’t made it into the shelves yet, there is no space for Christmas decorations or even a tree. 

And John is still recovering. The bullet wound is fascinating to look at, but it is also very scary. It is proof that John is mortal and Sherlock had, until this point, been naive enough to think nothing could ever take John away from him. Yes, he has seen death, has made murder part of his profession. He knows how cruel people are, how bloodthirsty. But who would be vicious enough to hurt John? 

Sherlock tries to be kind. He tries to manage most of the move, does the shopping, which he hates. He spends time talking to John, which he has missed over the past three years. He accompanies him to the doctors, and helps him getting dressed or showering. It’s hard, but they are together. There is no real Christmas spirit this year. It doesn’t matter. They can celebrate it next year, and the years after. 

On Christmas Eve, Sherlock comes home from the Yard around nine. He got wine and take away, so they can have a lazy evening on the sofa. 

John is sitting on the sofa, turned so he won’t put pressure on his shoulder. He smiles, and Sherlock thinks there is less pain on his face today. He places his bags on the living room table and leans down to kiss him. He has missed John’s kisses. 

They spend Christmas Eve like they always have, on the sofa with a movie and cuddles. 

Sherlock can’t imagine anything better. Maybe this moment of peace is what the holiday is all about. 

In the morning, Sherlock wakes up on the mattress in what will be their bedroom. He can hear John in the kitchen, and ignores the impulse to get up and help him with the kettle. He knows John has to learn to do things on his own again, even if his shoulder hurts and he struggles with using his non-dominant hand. Sherlock doing everything for him won’t help him in the long run, so the detective forces himself to stay in bed this morning. 

John’s hand is shaking slightly, but he doesn’t spill a single drop of tea. 

“Happy Christmas,” he says and hands Sherlock the mugs. 

“Marry me,” Sherlock says, because John is handsome and kind and a good kisser and perfect husband material.


	4. Last

The last Christmas they spend together, Sherlock is almost eighty-four. 

He doesn’t have to ask John to spend Christmas together. They have done this for sixty-four years, not counting the years Sherlock was gone and those John spent in Afghanistan. 

John makes ginger nuts and brings some to their neighbours. They buy a tree and decorate it together. 

Sherlock puts violin music on, his hands too weak to play himself, and wraps his arms around his husband as they watch the snow outside. John is calm these days, and Sherlock is scared. Change is coming, and they both know it. 

“It’s cold,” John says, and Sherlock thinks of the boy with the red cheeks and nose standing on his parents’ front porch so many years ago. 

Sherlock kisses his shoulder and pulls him to the sofa, where they put a blanket over their legs and hold each other. 

“This might be our last.” John says. He sounds peaceful. 

“Then let’s make it the best.” Sherlock whispers. “Just the two of us.” 

They wake up in the morning and exchange presents. They take a walk to the lake. To warm up, they take a bath and wash each other. 

And Sherlock looks at John even more than he usually does. He must not forget a single detail of John’s face, because John Watson-Holmes is handsome and kind and hurt and brave and a good kisser and the love of his life. 

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas to all of you who celebrate it


End file.
